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Comment by Izikiel43

4 days ago

Is he one of the richest people in the world?

Yes

Has given money in the order of hundreds of billions to charity?

Yes

Both can be true.

Being a philanthropist connotes having a purely altruistic rationale for giving away money.

If you’re giving away money to shush people, or gather support for your politics, or gain something else out of it then you do not receive the beneficial connotation.

Strictly going by definition, dictators can be philanthropists.

  • He spends money lobbying the WHO to buy drugs from companies he's a major shareholder in. Then he pays journalists so they always write about him positively. He's brilliantly figured out how the world works.